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Jammin’: Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway” succinctly answers the first of Goethe’s three questions of artistic criticism: What was the artist trying to do? Producers Tom Bywaters and Nell Cox have provided director/author George C. Wolfe with the ideal vehicle from which he, along with various cast members, Luther Henderson (musical adaptations) and Susan Birkenhead (lyrics), clarifies just what the Tony Award-winning hit was about.

The PBS show blends “Jelly’s Last Jam” interviews with photos from Morton’s past, tied together by Denzel Washington’s narration and excerpts of recorded reflections by Morton himself.

These segments, coupled with Wolfe’s impassioned interjections, reveal Morton as a Creole racist who, because of boyhood indoctrinations by his family, was never able to see himself as black.

Ultimately, this closemindedness hampered the development of “his jazz.” The dramatic tension builds until, unable to continue drowning in denial, Morton faced all the parts of his black past–most of which he used for musical purposes.

Based on interviews here, the communication mode of the engrossing Wolfe seems to be high energy. The hour spec’s seamless shifts from Broadway to the past are fluid, making the bridges between the two clearly defined. The primary criticism is that a little more background information and a little less Wolfe would have supplied more meat for the concept.

The documentary definitely bears notice as it provides sharp insights into the torn soul of one of America’s great musicians while at the same time serving as road map into Wolfe’s creative genius from concept to production.

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After a tumultuous period involving harassment scandals, job losses and restructuring, Vice has registered a small profit in the U.K., according to the company’s latest results. The uptick is welcome news for Vice as its new international boss, Dominique Delport, scopes out new production and partnership possibilities for the company’s content business. The U.K. was [...]

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She was a natural comedian — fearless and funny, willing to trade on her natural Bronx brogue to craft a sassy and street-wise character that was tailor-made for sitcoms. But Penny Marshall, who died Monday night at the age of 75, proved throughout her long career that she had so much more in the way [...]

At CBS News, President David Rhodes has a series of important decisions to make that could affect the trajectories of some of TV’s best-known news programs. As its parent company seeks to move forward from recent seismic events – the ouster of its former CEO, Leslie Moonves; a corporate probe into its workplace culture; and [...]

Industry organizations and major companies in Europe and Hollywood welcomed Tuesday a high-level European Union agreement that in large part preserves producers’ ability to sell movies and TV shows on an exclusive territory-by-territory basis. Territorial licensing is a financial backbone of the film and TV business in Europe. Recognition of such licensing came last Thursday in [...]